Alabama, Jeff Foxworthy first new post-pandemic shows coming to arena

“This is just the first two announcements,” said arena general manager Tom Lorenz. “We’ll continue to see more and more shows added in future months, some this year and more in 2022.”

Alabama played its first Lincoln show since 1999 four years ago, selling out Pinewood Bowl. This fall’s show, however, was moved inside.

“With the 50th anniversary show, the production is bigger and works better inside,” Lorenz said. “Plus, the audience is a bit older. This will be a great show to continue to reopen the arena for a different audience (than those for already announced concerts).”

The most popular country band of the 1980s, Alabama has had 43 No. 1 singles. It has won 178 Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music and Grammy awards and had 21 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums.

Named the Recording Industry Association of America’s top country group of the 20th century, Alabama is credited with bringing country music into the mainstream, incorporating rock guitars, lights, pyrotechnics and sound into its live shows and influencing the likes of Kenny Chesney, Jason Alden and Luke Bryan.

The group got its start in 1969 when cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry began playing together in their hometown of Fort Payne, Alabama. They added another cousin, Jeff Cook, to the group, and began playing around Alabama under the name Wild Country.

After a stint playing in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the group changed its name to Alabama and began its run at the top of country music charts.

Owen, 71, and Gentry, 69, continue to tour with the group. Cook, 71, is no longer touring due to Parkinson’s disease, which affects his ability to sing and play guitar. Three musicians have taken his onstage roles of singing and playing guitar and fiddle.

The Marshall Tucker Band, which played The Royal Grove in December 2019, will open the show.

Foxworthy last brought his stand-up comedy to the arena in 2017, joining Lincoln’s Larry the Cable Guy for a night of “blue-collar comedy” two years after the duo had teamed up for a benefit show for the Team Jack Foundation.

The comedian and writer of 26 best-selling books, Foxworthy, who is known for his “You might be a redneck” jokes, has a SiriusXM satellite radio channel with Larry the Cable Guy and has hosted several television shows, including “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader.”

Foxworthy will be joined by Nate Bargatze, whose second Netflix special “The Greatest Average American” has just been released for streaming. Bargatze is a clean comedian who has appeared on late night talk shows.

Tickets for the Alabama concert are $35 to $129.50. Tickets for Foxworthy’s show are $39.50 to $59.50. Tickets for both shows go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at ticketmaster.com.